Chapter 4: Technological innovation in legal services

Question 1

Give 5 examples of robotic process automation.

Answer 1

RPA can handle tasks including:

1. customer onboarding;
2. CHAPS processing; trades;
3. fraud account closure;
4. land registry;
5. conveyancing;

Question 2

What are legal tech solutions which are disrupting legal practice? (6)

Answer 2

1. AI
2. ML
3. Predictive analytics
4. Robotic process automation (RPA)
5. Chatbots and virtual assistance
6. cloud-based software-as-service platforms

Question 3

Give an example of AI and ML disrupting legal practice.

Answer 3

For example Kira, using automation, logic and decision trees to create document templates that define all of the relevant search terms upfront, non-lawyers and businesses are able to use the technology to produce initial draft documents and contracts that used to require input from legal teams.

Question 4

Give an example of predictive analytics disrupting legal practice.

Answer 4

For example, Premonition, predictive analytics programmes are already being applied
to massive datasets to spot trends and generate insights around case behaviours.

Question 5

Explain 6 advantages of chatbots and virtual assistances.

Answer 5

1. can onboard new clients and,
2. for the firm, help to manage work allocation, work flow and project status.
3. help to steer website browsers to the firm,
4. present a friendly and approachable interface
5. via ML, answer basic types of FAQ
6. triage areas of enquiry and send them to the appropriate person in the firm, saving staff and client time.

Question 6

What is Apperio and what does it offer?

Answer 6

Offering a cloud-based software-as-service platform aimed at giving
businesses and law firms a better insight into their legal spending.
Specifically, the system tracks legal fees directly from law firms’ practice
management systems, and enables law firm clients to proactively
manage any problems as they arise, rather than being forced to be
reactive at the point of invoice.

Question 7

Explain 5 ways in which online tools can help access to justice

Answer 7

1. problem diagnosis;
2. delivery of customised information;
3. self-help support;
4. triage;
5. streaming into subsequent routes to resolution.

Question 8

Give 3 examples of specifically-tailored apps in the legal industry.

Answer 8

1. child support apps that estimate maintenance costs,
2. apps for users to access information about their rights.
3. personal injury apps that store accident information, witness statements
   and doctor visits

Question 9

What are some of the apprehensions about virtual court hearings? (4)

Answer 9

Dame Hazel Genn’s lecture,

1. virtual communication can create a different relationship to that built on face-to-face
   communication.
2. The key question is whether technology assists judicial procedures in terms of process and outcome and whether any influence is neutral, beneficial or biasing.
3. It is still highly contested whether being able literally to see and hear parties and witnesses assists the judge in assessing credibility.
4. there are questions about how a virtual hearing affects the way that parties participate in the process – the way that they present their evidence or tell their story and their perception of the legitimacy of the proceedings.

Question 10

What are the requisite skills of a successful lawyer as a ‘transaction engineer’?

Answer 10

According to M. Fenwick et al., the lawyers of the future will need to be able to assume the role of ‘project managers’ or, at least, active participants in multi-disciplinary teams that will design new solutions for the problems of the future. As such, a capacity to operate effectively in diverse teams will take on a much greater importance than has previously been the case for lawyers. Further, a successful lawyer ‘transaction engineer’ will need to understand the opportunities and challenges of the digital world and be familiar with basic coding principles, not least because the transactions that lawyers will be facilitating are likely to be dependent on computer code.